And On Down the Line

A sketch of the Coronation Chair in Westminster Abbey.

As soon as little Prince George of Cambridge made his appearance, he bumped all those in the line of succession to the British Throne, from his Uncle Harry on, back a notch.  In one of those early morning floaty moments--half awake, half still asleep--I wondered where the Princess Royal (Princess Anne) was in that line.  Was her succession order the same as her birth order (after Charles) ... or was she after all three of her brothers and their offspring?  So I looked it up.  But in looking it up--she comes after her brothers--I found a list of the first forty-nine in the line of succession which included some wonderful first names.  It prompted me to look up the other European royalty, too, (Denmark, Holland, Belgium, etc.) to see what sorts of names they had.

Some of the first names I found were completely new to me.  Others I hadn't heard for awhile.  Among Queen Elizabeth's direct descendants, there are Savannah, Isla, and Zara.  Among her cousins there are Xan, Cosima, Tane, Senna, Rufus, Lyla, Columbus, Cassius, Eloise, and Zenouska.

King Xan, Queen Zenouska?  Well, no, I guess not:  he's 24th in line; she's 49th.

As for the other European crowns, there are Haakon, Sverre, Maud, Estelle, Joachim, Athena, Emmanuel, Amadeo, Aymerie, Ariane, Claus-Casimir, Aloys, and Wenzelaus among others.

Speaking of third in line, I also found that in our own Presidential succession, the third in line after the Vice-President and Speaker of the House, is Vermont's own Patrick Leahy by virtue of being President pro tempore of the Senate.  Just a bit of extra info, that.